British, English, European: What am I? (7/22)

By Jamie Connolly, European Affairs Editorial Assistant

The easiest way to answer this question is to think of my response to people who ask “where are you from?” – a common and plausible question asked on a regular basis to any foreigner living in Washington DC. My first go to answer would be English. I was born in England – directly in the center of the country and mark each and every application form as such – nationality: English.

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TTIP edges forward, buoyed by votes in U.S. Congress and EU Parliament (7/17)

By Brian Beary, European Affairs

 

Wrapping up the tenth round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks in Brussels on July 17, the lead EU and US negotiators confirmed that their goal was to conclude a deal under the Obama administration i.e. by January 2017. “The negotiators of TTIP on both sides have clear guidance on how to get things done,” said Dan Mullaney, the Assistant US Trade Representative, in a nod to how two big stumbling blocks to its passage have recently been cleared.

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Perspectives: Greece: The final curtain? (7/6)

mzeiner01By Markus Ziener, Berlin

By many, the outcome of the Greek referendum is considered to be a defeat for Europe. But is that really true? Just imagine if the Greeks had voted “Yes”: This would have signaled the start of another endless round of negotiations with a government and a country that is at odds which each other. At least this is safe to say: Alexis Tsipras and the people of Greece are on the same page when it comes to the reforms advocated by the EU-Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund: They don't like them and they don't want them. And given the bank run of last week they are certainly aware what that could eventually mean: Bidding farewell to the Euro.

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Greece’s Parliament Approves Austerity Measures, Casting a Glint of Light at the Tunnel’s End (7/16)

spellmanAs anti-austerity protesters and riot police clashed outside Greece’s neoclassical parliament, legislators surprisingly voted overwhelmingly, 229-64, for the first round of reforms and government spending cuts the country’s leader had accepted in exhaustion before dawn Monday to secure a desperately needed bailout from the Eurozone, thereby averting bankruptcy and “Grexit.”

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